The story is about the mischievous little mythical creatures called Gremlins. Gremlins are often used by Royal Air Force pilots as an explanation for mid-air mechanical troubles and mishaps. The main reason of Gremlins on why they sabotage British planes is because of the destruction of their home, a forest, which was flattened to make way for an aircraft factory. Gus,the main character, was able to convinced the Gremlins to join force with him and fight against a common enemy- Hitler and the Nazis. Eventually, the gremlins are re-trained by the Royal Air Force to help repair, rather than sabotage, aircraft, and they also help restore Gus to active flight status after a particularly severe crash. The Gremlins was Dahl's first children's book, and was written for Walt Disney, optioned for a film that was never made, in part because no one could establish exactly who owned the word "gremlin" and in part because they could not figure out how to make creatures who destroyed Allied aircraft lovable enough for a cartoon.